Can You Win A Title Starting With 9 Starting Pitchers?

[Greg Ambrosius]

It's been fun to look at all of the NFBC leagues in 2014 and see the different ways that owners were able to win league titles. One league that stood out to me definitely needs to be discussed here. It was the March 29th NFBC Main Event Online where Chris King started his draft with 9 starting pitchers and won the league title!!

Chris drafted live in Las Vegas as part of this online league that featured a lot of NFBC veterans and this draft board definitely got a lot of people talking when all was said and done. He wound up winning this 15-team league with 108.5 points, earning 72.5 pitching points (out of a possible 75) and adding 36 batting points. He finished 81st in the overall standings.

This seems like a crazy way to win a league title, but what do you think? Are you amazed that someone actually won an NFBC Main Event league title starting with 9 pitchers? Would you ever do it?

Here's his draft from the 3rd spot:

1 3 Kershaw, Clayton P NOAH'
2 13 Wainwright, Adam P NOAH'
3 3 Fernandez, Jose P NOAH'
4 13 Wacha, Michael P NOAH'
5 3 Bailey, Homer P NOAH'
6 13 Cain, Matt P NOAH'
7 3 Perkins, Glen P NOAH'
8 13 Cishek, Steve P NOAH'
9 3 Chapman, Aroldis P NOAH'
10 13 Sandoval, Pablo 3B NOAH'
11 3 Cruz, Nelson OF NOAH'
12 13 Hardy, J.J. SS NOAH'
13 3 Martin, Leonys OF NOAH'
14 13 Villar, Jonathan SS NOAH'
15 3 Carter, Chris 1B NOAH'
16 13 Saltalamacchia, Jarrod C NOAH'
17 3 Rasmus, Colby OF NOAH'
18 13 Dunn, Adam DH NOAH'
19 3 Escobar, Alcides SS NOAH'
20 13 Castillo, Welington C NOAH'
21 3 Span, Denard OF NOAH'
22 13 Young, Chris OF NOAH'
23 3 Stubbs, Drew OF NOAH'
24 13 Ruggiano, Justin OF NOAH'
25 3 Wood, Travis P NOAH'
26 13 Profar, Jurickson 2B NOAH'
27 3 Valbuena, Luis 3B NOAH'
28 13 Weeks, Rickie 2B NOAH'
29 3 Ciriaco, Pedro SS NOAH'
30 13 Rosales, Adam SS NOAH'

Thoughts?

[Bronx Yankees]

It's been fun to look at all of the NFBC leagues in 2014 and see the different ways that owners were able to win league titles. One league that stood out to me definitely needs to be discussed here. It was the March 29th NFBC Main Event Online where Chris King started his draft with 9 starting pitchers and won the league title!!

Chris drafted live in Las Vegas as part of this online league that featured a lot of NFBC veterans and this draft board definitely got a lot of people talking when all was said and done. He wound up winning this 15-team league with 108.5 points, earning 72.5 pitching points (out of a possible 75) and adding 36 batting points. He finished 81st in the overall standings.

This seems like a crazy way to win a league title, but what do you think? Are you amazed that someone actually won an NFBC Main Event league title starting with 9 pitchers? Would you ever do it?

Here's his draft from the 3rd spot:

1 3 Kershaw, Clayton P NOAH'
2 13 Wainwright, Adam P NOAH'
3 3 Fernandez, Jose P NOAH'
4 13 Wacha, Michael P NOAH'
5 3 Bailey, Homer P NOAH'
6 13 Cain, Matt P NOAH'
7 3 Perkins, Glen P NOAH'
8 13 Cishek, Steve P NOAH'
9 3 Chapman, Aroldis P NOAH'
10 13 Sandoval, Pablo 3B NOAH'
11 3 Cruz, Nelson OF NOAH'
12 13 Hardy, J.J. SS NOAH'
13 3 Martin, Leonys OF NOAH'
14 13 Villar, Jonathan SS NOAH'
15 3 Carter, Chris 1B NOAH'
16 13 Saltalamacchia, Jarrod C NOAH'
17 3 Rasmus, Colby OF NOAH'
18 13 Dunn, Adam DH NOAH'
19 3 Escobar, Alcides SS NOAH'
20 13 Castillo, Welington C NOAH'
21 3 Span, Denard OF NOAH'
22 13 Young, Chris OF NOAH'
23 3 Stubbs, Drew OF NOAH'
24 13 Ruggiano, Justin OF NOAH'
25 3 Wood, Travis P NOAH'
26 13 Profar, Jurickson 2B NOAH'
27 3 Valbuena, Luis 3B NOAH'
28 13 Weeks, Rickie 2B NOAH'
29 3 Ciriaco, Pedro SS NOAH'
30 13 Rosales, Adam SS NOAH'

Thoughts?

That's a gutsy way to spend your hard-earned dollars on a Main Event team! I can't see myself doing it, but his draft did raise a couple of thoughts in my mind. First, pretty amazing that he was able to dominate the pitching categories so decisively even though he arguably whiffed on his picks in Rounds 3-6 due to injuries and/or mediocre performance (Jose Fernandez, Michael Wacha, Homer Bailey and Matt Cain). Obviously, the Kershaw and Wainwright picks were gold. Second, he pretty much nailed the relievers in Rounds 7-9 (Perkins, Cishek and Chapman). I imagine the strong performances and unquestioned job security for those closers allowed him to use his FAAB on hitting and additional starting pitching. The temptation to spend/waste big money on closers in FAAB has been my undoing on occasion. What a nice feeling it would be to completely nail closers during a draft and never have to worry about that position when crafting free agent bids.

Just goes to show that there are lots of ways to win leagues, and any strategy only is as good as the execution of it. Still, well done for a gutsy approach that I'm sure was well-executed and well-managed during the season.

Mike

[BK METS]

Very cool. I remember looking at their draft board in Vegas and it was definitely the center of a lot of conversation. Nelson Cruz and Chris Carter helped him a lot in the 2nd 10 (along with Sandoval, Escobar, and Span). He must have picked up some pretty decent hitters in FAAB. Just proves that the actual draft in The Main Event is secondary to team management throughout the year.

[Winston's Empire]

Pretty Insane… I love it! I haven't seen anybody go that long without grabbing a bat in a draft, but we all know a guy that waits AT LEAST that long before grabbing his first pitcher

[cfolson]

He used the same strategy in Main Event March 22 1 pm ET League 1. That one finished in 14th.

[TOXIC ASSETS]

Nonconformity? Check.
ADP be damned? Check.
Hitting on good hitting late in draft? Check.

BOOYAH!

[JohnP]

So interesting. I don't think I would ever try it in a national contest where a fair share of the entry fee goes towards an overall prize but in a stand-alone.....maybe. Congrats on pulling this off. Impressive.